Put all ingredients into crockpot and set on high. (I use a 4 1/2 quart Rival Oval Crockpot).

Cook as long as desired (until veggies are as soft as you like). You can cook this on "low" power all day. I like to start it on "high" to get it up to temp. faster. I ended up starting this on high for an hour yesterday afternoon, and then letting it cook all night on "low" power. (It would have been fine earlier, but I was feeling too tired to deal with cooling, pureeing, and packaging it last night.)

Puree half of veggies in small batches in the blender or use a hand-blender right in the turned off crock pot. I leave only a few chunks if I'm planning to share any with my kids.

Freeze in plastic containers in desired quantities. Thaw and reheat in microwave or stove top.

Since this recipe filled my 4 1/2 qt crockpot, it cooked down to about 16 (1 cup) servings.

NOTES : These are just the ingredients that I had on hand when I first made this soup on "leap day" 2/29/00. Use your imagination. You can use any broth or veggies that you like. I had an open container of chicken broth, some "oldish" mushrooms, and part of a bag of frozen mixed peppers to use up. I just happened to have some fresh parsley and yellow squash. I bought frozen carrots because they were so much cheaper than the fresh ones today. I added the V-8 until my crockpot was just about full. -- Jane
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0